CVE-2014-8822
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedIOHIDFamily in Apple OS X before 10.10.2 allows attackers to execute arbitrary code in a kernel context or cause a denial of service (write to kernel memory) via a crafted app that calls an unspecified user-client method.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · high confidenceIOHIDFamily kernel driver in OS X before 10.10.2 contains a vulnerability allowing a crafted application to call unspecified user-client methods, enabling arbitrary code execution in kernel context or kernel memory write leading to denial of service.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data<= 10.10.1CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- Complete
- Integrity
- Complete
- Availability
- Complete
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check installed OS X versionOpen Terminal and run: sw_vers -productVersionAffected if Version is 10.10.1 or earlier (e.g., 10.10, 10.9.x, etc.)
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Verify IOHIDFamily kernel extension presenceRun: kextstat | grep IOHIDFamilyAffected if The kernel extension is loaded (vulnerability is present if OS X version is <= 10.10.1)
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Confirm system is not patched via security updateCheck System Preferences > Software Update or run: defaults read /Library/Preferences/com.apple.SoftwareUpdate.plist LastSuccessfulDate (compare date to December 2014)Affected if No update to 10.10.2 or security update 2014-006 has been applied, and OS X version remains at 10.10.1 or earlier
A system is affected if it runs OS X 10.10.1 or earlier with the IOHIDFamily kernel extension loaded; the vulnerability is mitigated if the system is on 10.10.2 or later, or has Apple security update 2014-006 installed.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
dbcve · scopedUpdate to OS X 10.10.2 or later which contains the patched IOHIDFamily kernel driver. For systems that cannot be updated, apply Apple security update 2014-006 or implement application whitelisting to prevent untrusted apps from accessing IOHIDFamily interfaces.
Mac OS X 10.10.2 or later
- Back up all important data on the Mac before performing any system updates
- Check the current Mac OS X version by clicking Apple menu > About This Mac
- Upgrade to Mac OS X 10.10.2 or later to address the IOHIDFamily kernel vulnerability
- After upgrading, verify the new version by checking About This Mac to confirm the security update was applied
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation16.0 h
- Testing8.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2014-8822 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2014-8822 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.
- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data